Summer Bucket List
There are so many things I want to do this season, so I’m just gonna spitball here and see what happens. This isn’t a must-do list. This is a how-about-this list for all of the summer days coming up.
Go lane swimming in the mornings
Ride a bike (ideally along some sort of waterfront path)
Lose count of how many heirloom tomatoes I eat
Tan on my roof
Eat the Red Hook Tavern burger in Brooklyn
Consider any of these soft serve options: the soft serve from L’Industrie, the vegan tahini soft serve at Seed + Mill in Chelsea Market, try the I’m-sure-overhyped Myka Greek Frozen Yogurt or go back to Madison Fare (which has a West Village location now too) for their incredible tart frozen yogurt
If I’m anywhere near Rockaway Beach, get this incredible frozen pina colada
See some waterfalls in Hamilton, ON
Make Nanaimo bars
Ask Marla’s mom to make date squares again
Go to the lighthouse museum on Staten Island
Make this L’Artusi mushroom ragu again and freeze it for my pregnant friend
Start to research for Europe trip in the fall
Drink the insane sounding sangria at the Skydome
Finish making my own seasonal address labels
Watch any of these movies or any of these episodes
Take the ferry and go to Centre Island in Toronto or Rockaway in Queens
Lofty list, right? I think so. Happy second day of summer!
Above: me this summer, ignoring that entire list
The Best of July
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
I might have to stop complaining about how I’m not a summer person because this past month was such a memorable one. Here’s what went down last month!
Nathan made Variety’s 10 Comics To Watch list this year!
I continued my Summer Saturdays series because apparently I’m obsessed with summer?
The best tweets of the month can be found over here. I also made a list of my favourite summer tweets.
I wrote about my favourite caesar salad dressing recipe in honour of its 100th birthday.
I tried the soft serve from Seed + Mill and it was unbelievably good. Top three in NYC, hands down.
Soft serve from Seed + Mill, Chelsea Market
I finally got to go lane swimming in Mississauga and it was all that I’d hoped it would be and so much more. Fuck Eric Adams for cancelling the lap swims in NYC for yet another summer.
The watermelon sangria at Bite is summer in a glass.
I finally visited the food hall at Queensboro Plaza and the options looked pretty good! The chicken caesar wrap at Bobwhite Counter was decent, but it’ll always amaze me when places don’t make their own croutons. It’s one tiny little step that makes or breaks it.
Chicken caesar wrap at Bobwhite Counter
The coronation chicken salad at Nomad Sandwiches is too good. Cold, curried chicken is not on enough menus in this city.
I just saw an ad for this, but Arby’s has a burger now?? Am I the only one this offends?? Their whole thing is that they DON’T do burgers?? That roast beef and cheddar is better than any fast food burger, what the hell is going on? I can handle a lot of things (really I can), but this crosses a line.
A reel told me to squeeze lemon on top of watermelon, so I did and it was fantastic.
I went to Canada for a little bit since the kids are off for summer break and I think I’m onto something here: yardwork is fun when it’s not your own house.
Airport pickup!
I used a screwdriver to do this and I’m kinda proud of that fact?
One of my most beloved hobbies? Before/after photoshoots, apparently.
It’s an illness, really
Went to Blue Mountain on a small trip with my family and it was perfect. We swam so much (once in the rain, and I hope everyone swims in the rain at least once in their life) and we also rode the Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster (something that’s been on my list for years), which was so much fun. I also won’t disclose how many times I went to the frozen yogurt place Menchies.
Blue Mountain, Ontario
Before the Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster
On the mountain coaster!
Swimming in the rain >>
Sunset w/ Layla, Blue Mountain
Parents, Blue Mountain
On the drive back from Blue Mountain, we found a farmer’s market-type store in hopes of finding some sponge toffee and dreams can come true.
Worth every penny
Ate at Lucia in Toronto and it wasn’t anything special, which was a bit disappointing but the company was everything I wanted so that made up for it.
Marla w/ the best gifts
Made these ricotta meatballs that turned out great, if not a bit too soft.
We went to Ribfest and I tried my first blooming onion. It was absolutely unreal. How did it take me this long to try one. Also got an oxtail poutine and (finally) the tri-colour popsicle I’ve been waiting on since last summer.
There are cathedrals everywhere for those with eyes to see
Oxtail poutine, I love this country
I wanted this so badly, I didn’t even care how bad my nails looked
The passport office in Mississauga is such a nightmare, it literally took four hours to get renewed (and that’s only because I showed up two hours before it even opened).
Tried this soft foot reel I saw (below) and it worked pretty well! I think you have to do it multiple times a week to really see longterm results, though.
Went to Spirit Tree Estate Cidery again with my niece Tianna and it remains great. Their daily soup is the main attraction here (we got the seafood chowder).
Tianna at the cidery
We also went to Activate again and I think I enjoyed it even more than last time. Obsessed with the hoops room. Makes me wish I had a basketball net.
Activate in Mississauga, ON
Went to the Asian Night Market in Mississauga with Harmeet and we got the cold noodles, which were spicy/great. Afterward we went to the Mexican restaurant in the food hall section of Square One (La Carnita) and had such a terrible experience. The short ribs we ordered were awful and our waiter absolutely hated us. And then we went next door to Farzi Cafe, where the drinks were fine but insanely overpriced. What the hell is going on at Square One?
I finally got Baby Dog in a kiddie pool and she could actually doggy paddle. It was the cutest thing anyone has ever seen.
I just learned about the ready-made sandwiches at Lazar Bakery in Mississauga and my lunches will never be the same again.
The foam soaps are the main reason I go to Bath & Body Works, but their bar soaps last such a long time. If you live in the United States then you should definitely get their app - they give you at least one free item every few weeks.
Baskin-Robbins rainbow sherbert continues to solve all.
Rainbow sherbert for life
I know it’s early, but the pumpkin pie M&Ms are outrageously good.
Pumpkin pie M&Ms
Some things I watched:
The Bear (season three): Cons first. Okay, I hated the first episode but it’s the weakest one of the whole season. Some of the dialogue is so badly written, it’s hard to watch sometimes. Why the hell was John Cena in it? He isn’t a good actor, let’s cut the shit. Now pros. Ebon is flawless. The Napkins episode was so well written. Jon Bernthal is such a great actor. The Al-Anon support group scene was so good. My jaw dropped at Josh Hartnett making an appearance, I’ll continue to love his renaissance. And I know I’ve complained about the overacting of Jamie Lee Curtis from last season, but I thought the birth episode was the best one of the entire season. That whole episode just captured mothers and daughters so well and how we see that our mothers fail us so much because our expectations of them are too insanely high so when they fall flat of those expectations, how crushing it can be to realize that they’re just human. That episode alone is why I’ll keep watching the show. I do think that a lot can be done towards the development of characters so that we have the time to care about them in the ways that the writers want us to, but there are these pocket episodes that are just so alarmingly true and good. It’s a fantastic show with absolute faults, but the reviews of this season were way too harsh.
All of the Naked Gun movies (rewatch): Okay these movies really hold up well. It was too much fun to watch them with the kids who actually really laughed and enjoyed them too. Romeo even referenced one scene weeks later to laugh about it, my heart swelled to say the least.
Blowout: It started out interesting and then took a sharp turn, hard pass.
Sabrina (rewatch): I was on a Harrison Ford kick and would’ve settled for anything, so this was nice to see again.
Twisters (theatres): I really wanted to hate it, but it was a party.
Creep (rewatch): Still great!
Mulan (live action): Rome insisted on us watching this and it wasn’t bad! I’m pretty anti-live-action, but this was surprisingly good.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (rewatch): Love a summer horror movie. There needs to be more seasonal horror movies.
The Craft (rewatch): I always forget how much I hate the bug stuff at the end, but it’s still a solid 90s movie.
Some things I’m looking forward to this month: my dear friend Marla is coming to visit (!), cannot wait to see Trap next week, I’m keeping my eye out for any corn based seasonal dishes at the restaurants I love and I can’t wait to start preparations on this year’s costume…
Baby Dog in my baby blanket
If you’ve got any interest in reading last month’s roundup, you can see what went down in June over here and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
Summer List
Well, welcome to summer.
The worst season in the worst year is suddenly upon us! Look at that! With everything a few weeks away from shutting down again (it’s happening, I can feel it), here’s what I’m going to try to do this season.
If I can make it to Canada in the next few months, I’d love to go see Tew Falls finally.
Go swimming at least twice. (Where? No idea.)
Try a Vietnamese iced coffee for the first time.
Eat the burger at L’Artusi.
Start planning San Francisco (and area) trip.
Other summer things I would’ve loved to do if the world was safe and normal: I would’ve gone to go see the installation on the rooftop at The Met, but I wouldn’t feel very comfortable being around that many people even if it does open, so next year it is. I wish carnivals were still happening this year, even small street ones, but that doesn’t seem likely. I am looking forward to summer tomatoes and corn, so that’s something. I’ve got to start planning my Halloween costume, too. Maybe this season won’t be a giant train wreck?
You can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
The Best of July
So technically the end of August is the appropriate time to start any and all Halloween/autumn talk (I think I made up that rule, but it feels right), so I’ll respect that and wait. Just know that I’m inwardly filling up with joy in anticipation of the best time of the year. Here’s what went down this month!
I made a list of some of my favourite summer vacation-y movies that I like to watch to pass the ungodly slow summer hours.
I read and reviewed the book Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed (the woman who wrote Wild).
We had a small party for July 4th and it was the best. Here’s what I made and loved: Panzanella Salad with Fresh Mozzarella (I used the How Sweet Eats recipe, but added mozzarella and omitted the corn and avocado - I also made the croutons the Ree Drummond way, because that’s the tastiest way), Spinach Bacon & Artichoke Stuffed Mushrooms (because they’re so delicious I want to scream), I used bell peppers as the bowls for holding the ranch for the vegetables, Slow Cooker Ribs, Eggplant Lasagna (I can’t remember the recipe I used, but it was pretty basic), Peanut Butter & Nutella Cheesecake Bars (this was the second time I’ve made these and it’s a perfect dessert to make a night or two before so that it can really set up), Blueberry Lemon Bread, and a charcuterie board (which is like assembling food art & I love it).
My favourite fruit/vegetable season is the end of summer mainly because of the fresh tomatoes and corn, so I can’t wait to try some of these corn dishes available in NYC right now. Although I don’t know how any of them are going to compete with the corn gnocchi at Park Avenue Summer. (I just looked and there’s also a sweet corn agnolotti with black summer truffles on the menu now too, so things just got interesting.)
Jenn sent me a link to this lovely poem Perhaps the World Ends Here by Joy Harjo that I just love.
I watched the AOC documentary Knock Down The House on Netflix and it’s so, so good. Cried at the ending.
I went on Nathan’s podcast to talk about dogs, cheating and movies.
I went for lunch at the cafe at Lilia in Brooklyn and it was ONLY AVERAGE. So that was disappointing. Maybe I ordered badly? I got the prosciutto, parmigiano butter, balsamic mustard sandwich - and even though it looks great (love whole grain mustard), it was really just too bready and not very flavourful.
I saw Midsommar (by the same guy who did Hereditary last year) and I really liked it. Some parts are just unnecessarily graphic (and the slow motion shots of this stuff are insane to watch), but the plot was great. Love an original movie.
Watched the entirety of Champions on Netflix and it really bums me out that it got cancelled, it was a really fun show.
Made this chocolate chunk coconut banana bread and it was goooooood.
I visited the new TWA Hotel at JFK and wrote about it over here.
So excited to hear that there will be three more seasons of Big Mouth!
I also rewatched Dante’s Peak (still a great movie) and Twister (again, it holds up). I think I was in a natural disaster kinda mood that week.
Do you remember experiencing or hearing about the ride Kongfrontation at Universal Studios in Florida? I’ve only ever heard of it, but it seems like it was probably the best ride that ever existed at that park. I hate how most rides these days are just 3D screens with no real interaction or animatronics, it’s bullshit.
Fucking obsessed with this strawberry lemonade kombucha that’s apparently only available at Trader Joe’s. I thought their gingerade was the best flavour, but now I have to reassess everything. (Also tried the “watermelon wonder” but it’s pure trash.)
Some songs that I can’t stop listening to: You Need To Calm Down by Taylor Swift, Blow Your Mind by Dua Lipa, Everybody by Elliphant feat. Azealia Banks, Boys by Lizzo, Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld & Alesso feat. Florida Georgia Line & watt, Doin’ Time by Lana Del Ray, We Were Young by Petit Biscuit feat. JP Cooper, Calma (Remix) by Pedro Capo & Farruko
I refuse to shut up about how great the (square bottle) nail polishes are at Urban Outfitters. They’ve been consistently great for years. I’ve been wearing their neon pink Hot Tub off and on for at least five years, and they keep putting out wicked new colours. There’s almost always a 3 for $10 deal and recently I got Coffee Creamer, Sun Bunny & Optic White and they’re BEAUTIFUL.
It’s currently Restaurant Week again (it’s on until August 16th), so of course I went back to The Dutch for their beautiful wagyu steak tartare. I also had the corn cappelletti with chanterelle mushrooms and marjoram that was heavenly.
I saw The Farewell and it’s everything I wanted it to be and more! Definitely go see it. It also reminded me of this beautiful song that I had to sing for a competition once years ago, Caro Mio Ben.
There’s a deal with ClassPass where you can use the service for free for two weeks, so I tried it and it’s not that great. It’s just too expensive to justify having it when I already have a monthly gym membership somewhere else. I did try an aqua cycling class through Aqua Studio during the free trial and it was… only okay. I mean, it’s fun and great to be in the salt water, but it wasn’t all that challenging as a workout.
I wasn’t planning on buying it, but I tried it, loved it, so had to buy it: Glossier’s Brow Flick. I’m still learning how to use it properly, but so far I’m really into it. It inspired this eyebrow products video that I posted last week.
I saw Toy Story 4 and I really hope this is the final one they make because the ending was so good. That’s all I’ll say. Quality series of movies, right here.
Some friends of mine recently opened up a small, late night food place called Foodstruck in Astoria and the food is really good. They’ve just opened, so they’re still figuring out their hours but I think they’re catering to the late night crowd, especially servers/bartenders who get off work late. Check out some of the food specials from this past week.
My too-kind friend Irene got us a housewarming gift of a Diptyque candle (in eucalyptus) and somehow it’s still going after three months of daily use, which is incredible. Do not look up how expensive this candle is.
I watched To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before on Netflix and really liked it! Especially the hot tub scene. But let’s not get into it. I double-checked to make sure they’re both over 21 and they are, so all’s good.
Made this pappardelle pasta with mushroom ragu when Nathan was out of town (I like to get my mushroom recipes in when he’s gone) and it’s definitely going on my favourite-dinner-recipes list.
I ate at Misi in Brooklyn because I’ve wanted to go for ages and the pasta was solid as hell, I’d definitely go back. We had the charred peppers, marjoram, and whipped ricotta crostini, the corzetti with marinated sungold (peeled) tomatoes, garlic, pecorino & summer herbs (have you ever eaten a PEELED tomato? It almost feels wrong. The good kind of wrong), the strangozzi with pork sugo, nutmeg and parmigiana and for dessert we had the strawberries and cream gelato (it was a special that night) and the espresso gelato. Everything was so crazy good. The service was fantastic and the space is huge. Is it better than Lilia or L'Artusi (pasta-wise)? Ugh, that's such a hard question. It's really good. I'll have to revisit to get more intel to make a final decision on that.
I went to Coney Island with Irene and it was great, as it always should be.
I visited the Profundo Day Club (mainly to get my ass in a pool) earlier this month, and I highly doubt that I’ll return. Mostly because even though the pool was nice (small, but nice) and refreshing, the blaring house music in the middle of the day was a little excessive. There’s also a disco ball above the pool itself. And a unicorn floatie that drifts around the water. And waitresses who shoot sparklers off when someone buys a bottle of liquor. It’s… not for me, let’s say. And the cheapest pass was $70 (tax included), which is waaaay too expensive for Queens. Let’s be real.
There’s a new season of Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee and the Martin Short episode is just lovely. It almost killed me when he was talking about when he bought his house and said, “We bought it in 1986” even though his wife passed away years ago. Am I being ridiculous in thinking that him using the word “we” is so sad and sweet and nice? Or maybe that’s a normal thing to say and I’d melt at anything to come out of his mouth. And while it was a good episode, I got so fucking sick of all the filler shots of coffee being brewed, coffee being poured into a cup, beans being tossed in a can, flowers sitting in vases - for fuck sake JUST TALK TO MARTIN SHORT AND SHOW ME THAT. Annoying as hell.
Nathan and I started watching season three of Stranger Things and… it’s not good? We saw all of the first season, which was pretty good. Attempted season two and never finished it because it became boring. And last week, we watched the first couple episodes of season three and I think we’ve silently agreed on just stopping it altogether. And look, I’m happy other people like it, but it’s just not for me. Demogorgons are too close to being dragons, maybe that’s why I can’t care about them?
I like to go to at least one baseball game each season, so I went to a Mets game last weekend and got this beauty that was the giveaway (below) since it was the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
I mean, there was even a promo video for it. How amazing is that?
Honestly, this bobblehead makes me so happy for some reason. I love going to Citi Field especially ‘cause the food is always so good. We got the filet mignon steak sandwich from the aptly named Pat LaFrieda’s Original Filet Mignon Steak Sandwich, incredible fries from Box Frites, souvenir cups & drinks from Effen Vodka Bar, mozzarella sticks from Big Mozz, and chips & queso with ginger lime margaritas from Cantina.
Two new things that I’m going to start doing:
1. Buying less things off of Amazon. If there’s an alternative, independently run company that I can find the item at (and if the price isn’t wildly more expensive) then I’ll shop there instead. Every new thing I hear about Amazon makes me shudder, and I hate that it’s become my default place for me to buy anything.
2. If a store/restaurant is cashless (ie. credit cards only), then I’ll refuse to shop there. It’s insane that this isn’t illegal everywhere yet. I’m so sick of it and cash should be accepted everywhere, it’s nuts that I even need to say that. (I was excited to have lunch at Ole & Steen in Union Square for lunch the other day, but they’re “cashfree” so fuck them!)
Some things that I’m looking forward to doing this month: I’ve already sent in my email requesting tickets for Saturday Night Live (you can only request tickets during the entire month of August), I can’t wait to see Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark with Layla, there’s a tomato gelato that I want to try that sounds either awful or life-affirming, going on our anniversary trip at the end of the month, excited for a Canyon Creek caesar salad with Harmeet, planning on going to the CNE with my mom (haven’t done this in years), going to two weddings (!!) and I love weddings, being in a pool with Marla and a bunch of our kids, and taking advantage of a few more Restaurant Week specials. Excited for the last month of trash weather!
If you’re some kind of monster who loves reading these monthly roundups, you can find last month’s over here and you can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
Summer List
The main reason that I know I can get through the overwhelmingly disgusting next three months is because the absolute best time of year is just over the horizon. It’s so close. Three measly months. So let’s make the most of our time while we wait. Here’s what I’d like to do this season.
Eat the burger at Whit’s End in Rockaway. Look at this beast.
As you may or may not know, I now live like a human being in a home that I love. That being said, I’d love to be able to successfully keep my houseplants alive for at least a full season.
Go on some sort of trip (like the one we did last year) with Nathan to celebrate our ten year anniversary in August.
Wear at least ten of my lipsticks over the course of summer because Christ, why were they even bought if I’m not wearing them. (Bonus point if I buy nothing from Sephora this summer.)
Go swimming at least twice. (This estimate is low, I know. I’m trying to be realistic.)
Go to the beach at least three times.
See The Farewell in theatres.
Attempt to make these meatball stuffed garlic bread sliders because they look beautiful and so fun to make.
Make the wildly delicious mushroom garganelli from L’Artusi (I just found the recipe online and I have to know if I can make it just like the restaurant does, because if I can… watch the fuck out, world.)
Lay out & look at the stars. (This will likely happen in Canada since, you know, New York isn’t equipped for romantic shit like this.)
I would’ve included going to The Met, but I’ve already done that this year. Other small things I’d like to do: I’ll definitely make it over to Connelly’s on one of my beach visits, I will protect my chafing thighs as much as humanly possible, this song will likely be on repeat at some point, probably going to watch some of these babies, and maybe some of these, too. Also, working on a summer playlist you can see below.
Does that seem like a lot to do? WE SHALL SEE.
You can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.
Summer List
I haven't made a what-I-should-do-this-season list in a very long time. So here we go! Summer is upon us and goddamit, I'm gonna have some fun. I encourage you to make your own list as well.
Eat a Coney Island Red Hot from Feltman's.
Finally visit The Met Breuer and The Frick and The Cloisters since I've never been.
Ride bikes around the top half of Central Park since I've never seen any part above 79th street.
Wear dark lipstick with all white outfits.
Eat the whipped steak tartare at Employees Only.
Go to the beach at least ten times.
Go swimming at least ten times.
Make an apple pie from scratch.
Take Baby Dog to a dog bar to meet other dogs.
Lay out with the kids and look at the stars.
See how simple that was? I know I can't force you, but you should really make one of your own.
You can see more posts like this on my latest newsletter.